Rocket Dog Brands LLC

With a brand-new headquarters open in Southern California and international expansion proceeding at a brisk pace, these are sunny times for Rocket Dog Brands LLC.

The young women’s shoe manufacturer started in 1997 and has since become one of the leading footwear brands for the millennium consumer. While remaining true to its sunny California beach roots, Rocket Dog continues to evolve its collection and expand offerings by introducing full product lines in casual, sport, sandals, flats and boots, and works to offers fashionable trends in each season.

“Our brand philosophy has not changed,” CEO Cathy Taylor says. “We remain a strong California brand and so much comes to life when we design to our spirit and remain true to our DNA of its soul. Today we are a young global fashion brand that works to inspire our consumers to express to their own individuality while always being true to our California spirit and heritage. That’s our bond, vision and blueprint.”

The trend for shoes for girls and young women in their teens to 20-somethings is a strong sport casual styling, Taylor says. This has benefited Rocket Dog and “This has allowed us to continue to see growth in our business with a strong consumer recognition in casual sporty wear for young millennial consumers,” she says.

Who are Rocket Dog’s customers? The Rocket Dog girl carries herself in a manner that fits her personality, the company says. Whether trendy or naturally putting key fashion elements together to work her own style, she represents effortless and sincere style, creating an original look. “She is independent, young-minded, confident and incorporating her personal style into everything she does,” according to the company. “When it comes to fashion, rather than being defined by it, a true Rocket Dog girl creates her own.”

International Expansion

Rocket Dog’s overseas expansion began in earnest after acquiring its international distributor four years ago. “We knew this would be a competitive strength and advantage for us in market,” Taylor says.

Today, more than one-third of its total business is conducted internationally. “We’ve invested in our London home with building new offices and people and today have an unbelievably strong team,” Taylor says. “Over the past two-and-a-half years, the brand has flourished. We have very good penetration in the United Kingdom and are penetrating France, Germany and Spain. We have been successful in engaging with core consumers and because of weather pattern differences in Europe; we enjoy a longer and bigger fall fashion season.”

Despite differences between the markets, it remains the quality of Rocket Dog products and fashion that allows for its success. “There is an additional styling and sense of grit that U.K. consumers demand and love from Rocket Dog.”

The brand has also been increasing its business in Italy, Scandinavia, Benelux, Greece and Turkey. Rocket Dog is not only expanding in the E.U. area, but also around the globe. A core initiative for ecommerce is the investing in a global platform speaking to all-currency and all-language system for continued brand growth. It offers shipping to nearly every country in the world.

Home Away From Home

Rocket Dog’s new Los Angeles headquarters reflects its style with a new look. Developed in a formerly condemned downtown building in the apparel district, it now houses brand-new studios for the head office. Previously, small teams were scattered about at different locations. Now, sales, marketing, design, research and front-end teams are all located together in the three-story building for optimum efficiency.

The design studios and offices feature open floor plans, a commercial kitchen, outdoor terraces and big windows for natural lighting. “It is conducive to a happy place,” Taylor says. “It is our home away from home.”

It is the perfect abode for Rocket Dog. “We are a fast-growing young brand,” Taylor explains. “Our goal is to ensure we are reaching as many consumers globally as we can with the right distribution that our consumer expects to see us.”